Lake of Ice
by sophtiger
Summary: Can Icepaw survive the harshness of the coming leaf-bare? Her clan has no idea of the war they cannot prevent. Will Icepaw ever be a warrior, or even find love? The secrets in the air sting her, and everyone else. Can she save her from clan a terrible fall? She is determined to be the best apprentice she can be, and that means loyalty. But will a SwiftClan cat catch her eye?
1. Prolouge

Prologue

Icekit shivered. At six moons, every kit had to take a course- sort of like an obstacle course- to become an apprentice. They had to face their most dreaded fear. There was one mind reader cat that did this, her name was Rattles. Her bones shook every time that she moved, because she was so elderly.

Today was the day she turned six moons. She tried to think good thoughts, so that Rattles wouldn't see her fear. Even though it was a stupid fear. Shadekit and Mousekit, her brothers, always told her it was a dumb fear and that she would pass the course with her paws tied behind her back.

But Shadekit and Mousekit didn't have to worry about the fear test yet, because they were three moons. "Lucky," she whispered to herself, forcing herself to take a step towards the mind reader's den. The den was a small cave right by the SwiftClan border line. Breezestar was highly annoyed by this, but Rattles couldn't care less about the young SwiftClan leader.

"Rattles?" Icekit called, daring herself to take another paw-step.

"Yes my deary?" came a voice from inside the cave. A ragged, scrawny cat emerged from the entrance, her torn and rugged tail waving in the air like she was an excited apprentice. The dark brown she-cat grunted with recognition as she looked Icekit over.

"Six moons, eh?" she snorted, limping towards her. A mouse tail was plastered to her cheek, Icekit grimaced as the old cat neared her. Rattles stopped and observed her once more, her gaze finally stopping to linger on her face. "Such a pretty devil," she grunted, shaking her pelt. Mud was flung off of her dirty form as she did so, and her bones rattled loudly.

Icekit shivered and tried to look away, but her gaze was glued to the she-cat's eyes. The other apprentices had told her about this- it meant she was taking a peek inside of your mind. Icekit shuddered but tried to think of happy thoughts- sunshine, playing with her littermates, but she knew it probably wouldn't work. This old mind-reader was too clever to be fooled by this illusion.

"Your afraid to be yelled at by your family?" the she-cat snorted. Icekit could tell she was resisting a laugh.

"Come, puny kitten," she growled, turning and heading into her den. Icekit coughed when she entered, the acrid smell stinging her nose.

Rattles shoved her into a smelly old nest and Icekit quickly fell asleep, even though she wasn't tired in the least.

"_ICEKIT!" screeched her mother, Snowfoot. "What have you done this time?" she demanded, fury flaring in her eyes. _

"_Nothing!" Icekit meowed quickly, tears welling up in her eyes. Her father, Burntwind, came up beside her mother. "You must be punished for your wrongs," he spat, anger in his tone. _

"_I didn't do anything..." Icekit mumbled, taking a step forwards. "Don't you dare go anywhere near our parents," hissed Mousekit, brushing up against Burntwind. Shadekit followed, fur bristling as he growled menacingly. _

_Icekit was pounced on by a heavy black tom, and she let out a gasp. Ebonheart hated her too? He was the nicest uncle ever! Icekit started to cry, and her vision blurred. No... this wasn't right. She looked Ebonheart in the eyes. "Uncle, this isn't the real you, and this isn't my family. My family is kind and sweet!" she exclaimed, but the cats around her had started to fade. _

"Congratulations," greeted the old cat, swaying back and forth. Icekit grinned. She'd passed!

"Your ceremony will begin shortly, you must hurry," Rattles grunted, spinning around to loudly dig her yellowing fangs into a scrawny brown mouse.

Icekit nodded and plunged back into the forest, relieved to be rid of that smell, and that terrible dream. She sped towards camp, a rush of excitement surging through her pelt.

"And your mentor shall be Nightash," finished Whitestar, showing his shiny white fangs as he smiled at her. Finally, Icepaw was an apprentice.

* * *

This prolouge is kind of boring, but it gets more exciting in the real chapters. I just wanted to introduce Rattles, the main character (Icepaw of course), her family, SwiftClan, that stuff. By the way, the clan Icepaw is in is FireClan. The clans are based off of the ones in the books. SwiftClan is like WindClan, FireClan is like ThunderClan, and the others will be introduced later. Review your thoughts please and tell me if I made any errors or if there are things I could improve on please. Thank you! And I highly recommend you try out my other stories. "Banished" is going along nicely, and so is "Badger Rise"

**_Thanks._** -_sophtiger_


	2. Chapter 1- Boulderpaw

Chapter One: Boulderpaw

"Hey Lilypaw, watch this!" Boulderpaw called, waiting for her to look. He quickly scaled the tree in less then a few seconds. "Wow!" the ginger she-cat called, staring up at the dark brown tabby tom. Boulderpaw loved to show off his skills, especially to the other apprentices.

His even darker brown stripes on his back glinted in the sun, making them appear lighter than they actually were. He did a flip on the branch, and the other apprentices gathered around the tree to watch. The tree was the tallest one in SwiftClan territory, it was near the FireClan border, so it was named Flame Tree.

"Let me try!" complained Raggedpaw, glaring up at him. Boulderpaw chuckled, his paws itching to slap the black tom who always pestered him. Moonpaw, a light gray she-cat, gently shoved him with her shoulder. "If your not too scared," she teased, her eyes glinting as she joked with Raggedpaw.

They were always teasing each other, so Boulderpaw thought they were perfect for each other! Boulderpaw, though, didn't really like any she-cats. He didn't get the point. All you get to do is nuzzle each-other and have kits. Kits are annoying little fuzz-balls that bother everyone, including Boulderpaw.

Boulderpaw had better plans. He wanted to become the greatest leader that ever lived! Plus, he had leader blood in his veins because of his father, Breezestar. His mother, Petalnose, was the deputy! Even though he didn't want them to die, he did want to be a leader someday.

A noise from behind made him jump. "Raggedpaw, you scared the StarClan out of me!" Boulderpaw accused, turning to face the black tom. Raggedpaw shrugged his shoulders and laughed. Boulderpaw swiped his ear, surprising the tom. Boulderpaw gaped as he stumbled towards him, dangerously close to falling. He unsheathed his silver claws to hold himself onto the branch. Raggedpaw's paw slipped and he screeched as his hinds fell off the branch.

He gripped the branch with his claws, his face beholding an expression of terror. Boulderpaw considered helping him up. If he didn't, then he would be banished. If he did, then he would be a hero! Boulderpaw grinned and leaned over to grab Raggedpaw's scruff. He hauled him up and Raggedpaw gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks," he murmured, ears flattening in fear.

Lilypaw was waiting at the bottom of the tree for him when he came down. "I can't believe you saved Raggedpaw, that's amazing!" she praised, falling in step with him as they walked along the border. "No problemo," he grunted, trying to sound cool, like it had been nothing.

His gaze flickered to FireClan territory. "I wonder who'll be picked for the gathering tonight," he meowed. "I don't know," admitted Lilypaw. "Want to hunt?" Boulderpaw nodded and immediately slipped into a hunting crouch with ease.

Lilypaw smiled at him and headed towards a bush where there was a strong mouse smell. '_Probably the only bush in our territory,'_ Boulderpaw thought with a chuckle. A rabbit was up ahead. He stiffened, but soon relaxed when he realized the rabbit hadn't noticed him yet.

He leaped to his paws and dashed towards the rabbit, his paws a blur of movement. He pounced when he came into reach, hooking his claws into the rabbit. He bit into the rabbit, killing it. Boulderpaw looked up, amazed that it was almost time for the gathering. Lilypaw was probably headed to camp with her mouse already.

Boulderpaw picked up the rabbit in his jaws and raced home, excitement flaring in his chest.

"The cats going to the gathering are Rabbitclaw, Petalnose, Grasspelt, Whitewhisker, Quickdash, Thornstep, Boulderpaw, and Raggedpaw," the leader meowed, then leaped off the giant rock and headed towards the entrance, the cats called following him out.

"This will be great!" Boulderpaw exclaimed to Raggedpaw, speeding up as they neared Four Stumps. He could smell other clan scents, but he only recognized FireClan scent from the walk with Lilypaw.

Raggedpaw simply grunted and puffed out his chest. Finally he turned his head slightly to look at Boulderpaw. "It's okay," he meowed evenly. "The first time is always the best, I suppose."

Boulderpaw could tell Raggedpaw was trying to be a big show-off. He was the oldest apprentice, and thought he knew everything. Boulderpaw kind of wished Moonpaw was here to keep him in line. The gray she-cat always managed to shut him up somehow.

Boulderpaw gaped in awe. So many cats! He scanned the clearing, looking for other apprentices. His gaze stopped to linger on a small golden tom that looked friendly. He walked up to the tom. "Hi," Boulderpaw mewed politely.

"Hey," the yellow tom said, eyes lit up and tail up in the air. This must be his first time as well.

"I'm Boulderpaw," he meowed, bowing his head as those manner lessons from his mother flooded back into his head. Those annoying time-wasting lectures might actually come in handy every once and a while...

"I'm Lionpaw," replied the golden tom, interrupting Boulderpaw's thoughts. Boulderpaw opened his mouth to say something, but a leader had started yowling that the gathering was starting. Boulderpaw jerked his head up and stared at the four leaders.

A well-groomed white tom cleared his throat. "FireClan is doing well, the prey is running quite good too. We have a new apprentice, Icepaw," meowed the tom. A black she-cat on the big rock smirked. "Whitestar, do you still have that stupid fear test thing?" she asked.

Whitesta growled but nodded all the same. _'Fear test?'_ Boulderpaw thought, confused.

"That stinky old flea-bag you call a mind reader, all she does is sit around scaring kits!"

Whitestar bit back an angry retort as the cat pushed him aside. "BlackClan is doing great," she meowed, puffing out her chest. "Our deputy died in a battle with SilverClan." She paused, her gaze darting over to a silvery gray tom with a look of fury on her face. "Minnowstar killed her," she announced in a huff.

"She would have made me lose a life, Froststar. Do you have any respect at all?" Minnowstar spat.

Froststar glared at him but continued. "I have named Frozenheart our new deputy," she shouted, and cheers rose up, mostly just from BlackClan.

Minnowstar's fur bristled as he stepped forward. "Our medicine cat died in the battle with BlackClan," he growled, shooting Froststar a furious glare. "And the medicine cat apprentice, Spottedflower, has taken her position." He hissed again, aiming it towards Froststar.

_'The leaders sure are hostile,'_ thought Boulderpaw.

"The gathering is at an end!" Froststar called, leaping off the great big rock.

Boulderpaw flashed Lionpaw a polite grin before hurrying off to join his clan as they left. _'I wonder what the fear test is,' _he thought to himself as he ran next to Raggedpaw in the clumpy line of SwiftClan warriors. "Hey, doesn't that fear test thing kinda sound fun?" Boulderpaw asked, looking at Raggedpaw.

The tom ignored him and surged forwards, leaving Boulderpaw in the dust. He glared at Raggedpaw's back but didn't say a word.

* * *

Rattles just pretends she reads minds- she just goes into other cats dreams. She hides and watches their nightmares, kind of like a StarClan cat would appear in a cats dream. Icepaw's kin doesn't hate her, it was just her fear. As for how Icepaw felt tired, Rattles snuck a poppy seed into her breakfast when she wasn't looking. And that dream Icepaw had, her kin were mad at her for no reason...

Rattles caused Icepaw to think about her fear, so when she had her dream, it was about what was on her mind. So, Rattles fakes mind-reading and is a stalker that creeps into a kit's dreams. Icepaw's kin, in the waking world, aren't mad at her, it was her fear.

Review please. :)


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